Here are descriptions and educational objectives for every CURIOUS GEORGE animated adventure and live-action segment. To find out when CURIOUS GEORGE is on in your area, check the TV Schedule.
It's Mr. Quint's birthday, and everyone is helping with preparations for a surprise party. But Mr. Quint comes home early from his fishing trip, so George is assigned the job of keeping him busy until it's time for the party. The job gets even more complicated when four of Mr. Quint's siblings arrive, and they are all having the same birthday — could they be quintuplets? And can you keep five Quints happy with only twelve fish crackers to eat?
Educational Objective (Math): To aid in counting with understanding and recognizing "how many" in sets of objects; to help develop an understanding of situations that entail division (such as sharing equally).
Live Action Segment (Chair Chart)
Kids make a plan for how to arrange the chairs to accommodate everyone participating in a poetry reading. A second group of kids then uses that plan to actually arrange the room.
The Man with the Yellow Hat just can't figure out why George refuses to take a bath. What he doesn't realize is that George has lost his favorite bath toy, Sproingy the Frog. And until George finds Sproingy, all the shower games, car washes, and dog washes aren't going to do a bit of good. Unless, of course, the dog being washed happens to be playing with a very special bubble-making frog.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate that bubbles are made of air surrounded by a very thin film; to demonstrate that no matter what the shape of the bubble maker, the shape of a free-floating bubble is a sphere.
Live Action Segment (Big Bubbles)
Kids mix water and detergent and figure out ways to make bubbles using a variety of objects. They talk about the different characteristics (properties) of bubbles, and how — no matter what the shape of the opening — the bubbles always come out round.
Related Activity: Bubble Stuff
The Man with the Yellow Hat and George are off to the airport to start their vacation. When they get there, they discover that all the flights are delayed, and there's a long wait ahead. But with sliding doors, moving sidewalks, luggage carousels, and beeping carts, George decides that the airport is a great place to spend his whole vacation.
Educational Objective (Engineering): To help develop an understanding that people and goods can be transported in many different ways.
Live Action Segment (Market Machines)
Kids visit a grocery store that has technology and techniques for moving stuff around, like the delivery system that bring groceries to the pick-up area.
George and Mr. Quint discover a fresh water eel in the waters of Lake Wanasink Lake. When Bill finds out, he proposes a contest to see who can catch it first. George has no fishing pole, so he makes one from things he finds around the house. He's determined to catch the eel so he can set it free.
Educational Objective (Engineering): To demonstrate using objects found around the house to design solutions to a problem.
Live Action Segment (Building a House)
Kids are given a wide range of materials, and they decide to make a house. They talk about their design decisions and how the materials served their building purposes.
Related Activity: Let's Build
When a blizzard covers the country house with a foot of snow, George can't wait to get outside to play. But he soon finds that such deep snow isn't easy for a monkey to play in. Then he learns how much fun it can be to ski, snowshoe, and sled.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate that spreading out the weight of an object on a soft surface like snow keeps the object from sinking in.
Live Action Segment (Snowshoes & Sleds)
There's a lot of snow on the ground, and kids are out experiencing some of the same things George does. They try to figure out ways to get ON TOP of the snow without sinking into it.
George really wants the toy oven he sees in the window at the toy store, but first he has to find a job to earn money to buy it. Since neither Chef Pisghetti nor Mr. Glass need help, George decides to go to work at the Grocery Store. While George is pretty proud of the job he does helping customers, the grocer is pretty confused about who is causing such chaos in the aisles.
Educational Objective (Math): To help develop skills in describing relative positions in space and in applying ideas about relative position.
Live Action Segment (Guessing Game)
One kid has picked an object in a room, and another kid has to find it by asking questions related to location. Is it in this half of the room? Is it above this shelf? Things get more complicated when they take the game outside to a playground.
Related Activity: Ramp-N-Roll
George loves Leslie the cow, but do she and her friends have to keep eating all those beautiful wildflowers that he wants to show The Man with the Yellow Hat? George works against time and the cows' appetites to come up with a wall strong enough to save the flowers.
Educational Objective (Engineering): To illustrate that the strength of a structure depends on the material it is made of and how it is designed.
Live Action Segment (The Ball Wall)
Kids are challenged to try to build a wall that will successfully stop a big rolling ball.
When George discovers a bone buried in the ground, he's convinced it's got to be part of a dinosaur skeleton — but which one? When none of the dinosaurs in the museum are missing a piece, George uses his best scientific sleuthing skills to match the bone to the animal. Is the bone from a completely new kind of animal? And why is Charkie always chasing after him to steal that bone away?
Educational Objective (Science): To help develop an understanding that the shape of a bone is related to its function, and the size of a bone is related to the size of the animal from which it came.
Live Action Segment (Back Bones)
Kids visit a museum of natural history to learn about the differences and similarities found among the bones of animals. They look at examples of the same type of bone from animals of various sizes, and talk about how the skeleton of a creature determines how it can move.
Related Activity: Let's Build
George loves his very first camping trip so much that he wants to go again as soon as possible. But The Man with the Yellow Hat is just too busy, so the Doorman volunteers to take George and Hundley in his fancy trailer with GPS, satellite dish, and microwave. When a thunderstorm knocks out the power, George comes to the rescue by using his old-fashioned camping tools to help them make it through the rainy night and back home safely.
Educational Objective (Engineering): To illustrate the importance of choosing the right tool for the task and using it correctly.
Live Action Segment (Orienteering)
Kids learning about Orienteering — a sport with a course, checkpoints, a compass, a map, and a timer — perform a simple route.
George isn't tall enough to ride the greatest rollercoaster of all time, The Turbo Python 3000. He uses licorice whips to measure his height and determines that he is seven-whips tall, one short of the eight-whip minimum! As he nibbles on his licorice, George looks for different ways to grow. His efforts seem to pay off when he measures himself again, but then he realizes that it's not that his legs are longer, it's that his stomach is fuller.
Educational Objective (Math): To help develop an understanding of the process of measuring and comparing using standard or nonstandard units of measure.
Live Action Segment (Measuring)
Kids try to measure the width of a room in hops. Trouble is, each kid hops a different number. The kids then measure each other using shoes. One shoe emerges as the standard, and its owner goes on a measuring spree.
Related Activity: Pattern Play
George learns the hard way about bones when he falls at the museum while exploring a dinosaur skeleton and breaks his leg. A visit to the hospital, a cast on his leg, and a cane aren't enough to keep George down, especially when Hundley steps in to help.
Educational Objective (Science): To explore how vertebrates have internal skeletons made of bone; to help develop an understanding of how a bone heals itself.
Live Action Segment (Drawing Bones)
Kids feel their own bodies to figure out what shape their bones are and talk about what bones do and why they're important. Then they trace each other's bodies and fill in the outlines with what they think their bones look like.
George loves his new bike, especially because it gives him the chance to help Bill with his paper route. But he gets distracted by some ducks, makes some paper boats out of the newspapers, and then, trying to fix his mistake, hits a big rock that bends his bicycle wheel out of shape. Can Mrs. Renkins find the right tools to help him fix his bike so he can find some dry papers, finish the paper route, and keep his promise to Bill?
Educational Objective (Engineering): To demonstrate the importance of using the correct tool to adjust and repair things.
Live Action Segment (Fixing Bikes)
Kids learn how to repair their own bikes. They fix a flat tire and learn about the tools used to accomplish the job.
Related Activity: Wheel Discoveries
George recruits Charkie, Gnocchi, Hundley, and Compass to play in a band inspired by the firefighters at Rescue Squad 86. For instruments, George gets creative and uses keys, rice in a milk carton, a birdseed canister with rubber bands, and a pie tin. Now all he has to do is figure out a way to get two dogs, a cat, and a bird to play music together.
Educational Objective (Engineering): To model the idea of creating new objects using found and recycled materials.
Live Action Segment (Wind Chimes)
Kids use found materials to make wind chimes. Some materials make satisfying sounds, others don't. Kids use string, sticks, tape, and whatever allows them to hang items that will be affected by the wind to create sound.
George and The Man with the Yellow Hat have a sandcastle contest at the beach. With the help of Bill and Momma Bunny, George builds a great castle and learns about how to avoid losing your castle to the incoming tide.
Educational Objective (Science): To illustrate that tides are natural events, and that they occur in repeated, predictable patterns.
Live Action Segment (Low Tide)
Kids decide to take a walk at low tide and see what kinds of creatures they can find. With the help of a teacher and a knowledgeable dad, they find that some interesting sea life is exposed when the tide is out.
Related Activity: Invent!
George hears a loud thumping sound coming from the ceiling of their apartment and becomes convinced that the new upstairs neighbor has an elephant for a pet. When The Man with the Yellow Hat points out how unlikely that is, George decides to investigate further and comes to the conclusion that if it's not an elephant, it must be a Galapagos Turtle who eats a lot of crackers, likes to wrap presents, and uses a juicer. When they finally pay their new neighbor a visit, the real story is even more interesting than George's theory.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate that different objects can produce sounds that are similar in volume and pitch.
Live Action Segment (Sounds Like…)
Kids play a game where each player must guess what a sound is without being able to see what's making it. Kids talk about the characteristics (properties) of the sounds and why some are familiar and others are not.
George gets tired of being a monkey because monkeys have to clean their rooms, brush their teeth, and go to bed early. He experiments with being a cat and a pigeon, but decides that the best of all is to be a dog like Hundley. Hundley is not at all happy with this plan, but he doesn't manage to convince George that there's room for only one lobby dog at this apartment building. It takes an elevator getting stuck between floors to help George realize that being a monkey can be pretty useful in a pinch.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate that the form and behaviors of each kind of animal are related to each animal's needs.
Live Action Segment (Tamarins and Mandrills)
Kids visit a zoo to learn about Tamarins with the help of a zoo interpreter. They make drawings and talk about the behavior and habitats of the primates.
Related Activity: Feel The Wind
George and Steve borrow Betsy's wagon to pick up a package, but on the way they lose a wheel. To replace the wheel, they experiment with a piece of wood, some roller skates, and baby carriage wheels. Can they find some way to keep that wagon rolling? And what's in that giant package anyhow?
Educational Objective (Engineering): To explore the system of wheels and axles that makes a wagon work correctly.
Live Action Segment (Rolling Wheels)
Kids work in teams to build wheeled vehicles out of a variety of materials. The ultimate test will be how successfully the vehicles roll!
George makes friends with a turtle down at Lake Wanasink Lake, but worries that because the turtle has no thumbs, it's going to get a lot of water up its nose when it goes into the lake. The solution is to bring the turtle home and keep it in the bathtub. But the turtle is just not happy in the bathtub, and when George brings home fish and weeds and frogs from the lake to keep it company, The Man with the Yellow Hat isn't very happy either.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate that various plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments, and have structures and functions that help them thrive in these environments.
Live Action Segment (Habitats)
With the help of a zoo interpreter, kids learn about the differences between a dry habitat and a wet habitat, as well as how different animals are well adapted for each.
Related Activity: Wheel Discoveries
The Amazing Balancing Zucchinis come to town, and George realizes that there's nothing he wants more in life than to be an acrobat. But before he can join the troupe, he needs to learn a lot more about balance and help save an allergic tightrope walker from a very determined cat.
Educational Objective (Science): To demonstrate how balance is affected by the amount and position of weight, and by the position of the fulcrum (point of support).
Live Action Segment (Balancing on Bikes)
Kids are visited by a troupe of stunt cyclists who talk about balance and demonstrate some simple balancing tricks.
Winter is closing in and George is miserable...how's he going to survive without all the fun summertime activities he loves? When he decides to ignore the weather and play with his wading pool and his bubbles, he learns some interesting things about freezing and melting.
Educational Objective (Science): To illustrate that water freezes into ice when it is cooled and that ice melts into water when it is heated.
Live Action Segment (Ice Shapes)
Kids pour water into containers of different shapes to make ice. The next day, they release the ice and have a nice assortment of shapes to build with. (They also play a game of hockey in which the puck IS the ice!)
Related Activity: Marvelous Meringues
